Rising in Rank
by Rain Harmonia
Summary: Achieving a ranking in the single digits on the Project Freelancer leaderboard is a big deal. Those are the big-shots, the elites of the project, the people whose stories are surely going to be told. One certain Freelancer has just reached the single digits and is ready for her success story to begin. It...will be a success, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Rising in Rank**

 **Chapter 1**

 _What's up everyone? Red vs Blue is something I've been watching for somewhere around half a year now. On my second time through the series but hey, that's not important right now and totally normal, right?_

 _I've had an OC for this since a while ago, when I first finished the Freelancer arc. I dunno why it took so long for the inevitable fic to happen._

 _Insert funny disclaimer here cause I don't want to get sued._

* * *

"Single digits! Congrats, Penny!"

"Look at you, moving up the leaderboard."

"Don't ditch us for the elites, hun."

"Hey, chill out. The board doesn't even matter unless you're in top six. Why else would only those ranks get publicly shown? Me going from ten to nine is no different than when Alabama went from thirty-six to thirty-five." A helmet dropped onto the table, followed by a plate of food. The owner of both took a seat in front of them, a wide smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Deft fingers flicked black hair out of her face, light green eyes sparkling with pride despite the words she'd just spoken. "Oh, and don't worry, Jersey. I wouldn't give you guys up for the world. Most of the top six seem pretty scary..."

A hand clapped down on her shoulder, glove against silver highlighted armor that was such a deep purple it would have looked black under certain lightings. "Yeah but I'm still twenty-nine spots away from making it to top six. You're only three! It's definitely a bigger deal for you than me." This voice was male, face hidden beneath a helmet for now. His armor was a startlingly bright red, solidly colored.

"Alabama's right." Another male, a freckle faced young man with shaggy blond hair, poked the purple-armored woman in the side with his elbow. "And nine's _definitely_ a better spot to be in than forty-six. Pretty sure the only position I'll ever be able to grab on a team now is as cannon fodder." A shadow passed across sea blue eyes, their hue almost perfectly matching his armor.

"Sweetie, we'd never let that happen." This speaker was another woman. Dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed. As if to offset that, her armor was a garish pink trimmed with dark yellow. She leaned across the table, patting the blond's cheek.

"Yeah, come on, Michigan. Listen to Jersey, and don't get so down." Alabama ruffled Michigan's hair. "You're by far the youngest in the program too, remember. Really still a kid. It's awesome you even made it this far."

"Stop that," Michigan whined, pushing both hands away. "I'm old enough to drink. I'm not a kid. ...but thanks. And Penny! I'm sorry! We're supposed to be celebrating you making it to rank nine!"

"Barely old enough to drink, Michigan," Penny teased with a light chuckle. "And really. We don't have to celebrate it. You know the only thing keeping me afloat up there is my hand-to-hand, my stealth, and my knife skills. I'm just a little above average with everything else."

Silence fell upon for the four for a few minutes as each dug into his or her dinner. Then... "You really won't leave us behind to hang out with the elites now that you're single digits on the leaderboard?"

"Michigan, chill out. Like I said, most of those guys seem scary. Not to mention they keep mostly to themselves. Looks like they're pretty elitist in more ways than just ranking," Penny sighed. She slung an arm around Michigan's shoulders. "And we've been friends since we all started in this program. One little ranking change won't stop that."

"That top squad is made of the single digits, Penny," Alabama pointed out. "We don't know if the roster is going to change now that you've been bumped up to nine and Florida got dropped down to ten."

"You have to consider the fact that they'll swap him out for you, hun." Jersey frowned. "You'll be running on their timetable in that case. Out all the time on their missions."

"You're a bunch of worrywarts. Even if that happens, I'll still have down time to hang with you guys. They can't keep me away from you all the time."

"Agent Pennsylvania."

"Fuckers are about to try to prove me wrong, aren't they?" Penny muttered, dropping her arm and looking over her shoulder at the soldier who'd approached the table. "Yeah?"

"Director wants to see you."

"When?"

"Uh... Well he said 'now' but I got a little turned around on my way here cause this ship is _huge_ so probably more like five minutes ago?"

Penny groaned, getting up and grabbing her helmet, lowering it over her head. She patted Michigan's shoulder. "Look, forget about your ranking. At least you'll never be as incompetent as that."

"H-Hey," the soldier who'd come to fetch her protested.

"Yeah, sorry buddy. But it's not really that hard to find your way around. Even if the ship is big. Hey, I'll see you guys later." She waved to her friends, the three of them returning with a chorus of goodbyes, and turned to nearly run out of the mess hall. It didn't do to keep the Director waiting.

* * *

Her first clue that this wasn't a normal meeting? She was walking into one of the training rooms. Her second clue? Well her second clue was big, scary, and clad in white armor.

"Agent Pennsylvania."

"Uh...yes sir?" She tore her gaze away from white-armored mountain and let it settle on the Director, snapping herself stiffly to attention.

"I expect you to be on time in the future. You have reached quite a high rank on the leaderboard."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Because of your new ranking, you are being considered for squad reassignment. Over the course of the next few weeks, you will be tested in various scenarios against the other top-ranking Freelancers. You will move up the list in ascending order with the tests getting progressively more difficult. However, since Agents Florida and CT are currently unavailable, you will begin today against the current number seven, Agent Maine." The Director nodded to the armored man at his side. "These tests will have no impact on the leaderboard."

"I'm fucked," Penny muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir! What kind of test is this?"

"We're beginning with one of your clear strengths. Do not worry. You will engage in one-on-one combat against Agent Maine. The only weapons you are allowed are knives. F.I.L.S.S. prepare the floor."

" _Preparing_. _All_ _non_ - _combatants_ , _please_ _clear_ _the_ _floor_. _Maine_ _and_ _Pennsylvania_ , _please_ _take_ _up_ _your_ _positions_."

Penny forced herself to take in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she turned to walk to the table that had lifted up out of the floor at the end of the training field that was nearest to her. She lifted her head to glance at the windows near the ceiling, knowing the Director would be watching from the viewing area. Then she almost froze up. It wasn't just the Director up there. Two sets of purple armor, gray, dusty gold, white, and turquoise. "I'm fucked," she mumbled again, picking up the single knife that awaited her on the table. Like all the training knives, its edge was blunted for safety and treated with a dye that would leave marks where she struck her opponent.

" _Round_ _one_ _beginning_ _in_ _five_. _Four_. _Three_. _Two_. _One_. _Begin_."

Penny began to carefully circle around the edge of the area, keeping her gaze on Maine. He barely hesitated before charging straight at her, his knife stabbing down in an overhead strike at her head. She rolled to his left, sticking out a foot to try to hook his ankle only for him to lift his own foot and place it back down on top of hers. And for the third time, as she tried in vain to pull her foot out from beneath his weight, she uttered those two words. "I'm fucked."

His knife flashed down again and she caught the blade against her own, flicking it aside. She was already in a poor position. Maine was bigger and definitely physically stronger than her. Her agility should have been what she could use to her advantage but he'd also been faster than she expected and now she was trapped. She lifted her other foot, kicking at his leg, but he just leaned more of his weight down onto her pinned foot and it was like kicking a metal pole.

Thinking to switch tactics, she sat up, driving her knife towards his foot. That plan went out the window when she had to jerk her torso back to avoid a swipe aimed for her throat. He dropped down suddenly, kneeling sideways on her legs and twisting to stab towards her chest. She brought her knife up to deflect the stab and in a flash his other hand had latched onto her wrist, twisting painfully until her grip on her knife loosened and the weapon slipped out of her fingers, it's blade leaving a bright blue mark against her armor as it fell. Maine finished by casually poking his knife straight at her chest, a red splotch appearing on her armor right above her heart.

" _Round one over. Point awarded to Maine. The current score is Pennsylvania, zero, Maine, one. Reset for round two._ "

"That was embarrassing," Penny sighed quietly.

Maine scooped her knife up and pressed the hilt back into her palm, then stood and held a hand down for her. "Yeah," he grunted.

"Didn't need agreement on that but thanks anyway." She grasped his hand and he tugged her to her feet. Damn, he was strong. The two went back to their separate ends of the floor. A table rose again from the floor in front of Penny, this time holding a small spray bottle and a towel. She dropped the knife on the table and picked up the bottle, spritzing the two marks on her armor then wiping them clean with the towel. That done, she picked up the knife again.

" _Better luck this round, Pennsylvania. Round two in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin."_

"Gee, thanks F.I.L.S.S.," Penny grumbled, watching Maine carefully. As with the last round, he took the direct approach of rushing straight at her. She twitched towards the left again and then dodged to the right, leaving a line of blue along the metal that protected his hip. By the time Maine realized she had faked him out, she was behind him and her knife was on a straight course for the side of his neck.

It never reached its target. Maine kicked back, sending her flying. She hit the ground on her back and tumbled. Flipping herself around, she dug her feet in against the floor, along with her free hand, and slid to a stop. Relentless, Maine was already rushing at her. She adjusted the position of her crouch, eyes narrowing as she watched. Then she shoved off, leaping into the air to fly over his head. His hand closed around her ankle, dragging her down. She reacted fast, her knife going out to drag the blunted edge across his throat at the same time that her other hand grabbed his incoming knife, not caring about the red streak that would leave on her palm. A throaty growl left Maine as he understood what had happened.

" _Round two over. Point awarded to Pennsylvania. The current score is Pennsylvania, one, Maine, one. Reset for round three. Armor lock will now be in effect."_

Penny picked her up from the floor, heading back to her end to clean the new mark off her armor. Maine did the same on his end. This was going to be the toughest round, she was certain. She wouldn't underestimate his speed again, but now Maine wouldn't be underestimating her.

" _Round three in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin."_

Time to switch it up. Penny took off, running straight at Maine. There was a very brief moment of pause caused by surprise at her sudden head-on tackling of the fight. Then he shook it off and ran to meet her. She jumped again, trying to repeat her previous win, only to catch a fist in her gut and be thrown even higher into the air. She twisted around, keeping her sights on Maine's knife as she fell back towards it. He slashed it up to meet her and she dropped her forearm down to meet it. The dulled blade slid along her vambrace before Maine twisted the knife around and a red streak trailed along her wrist. She felt her armor lock up around the wrist, registering the strike as a possibly crippling one. That was fine with her. She had managed to thrust her knife up against his exposed armpit when he'd struck at her.

She landed hard on the ground, facedown, and immediately rolled, predicting his attempt to pin her beneath his foot again. Hearing his foot thump to the floor beside her, she lifted her head and kicked herself into a roll that took her behind him, her knife leaving a blue trail across the back of his knee. The force behind her blow was enough for his armor to register it as potentially crippling in a real battle and Maine stumbled it locked up around his knee. She took the chance to reverse her hold on her knife, smashing the hilt into the back of his knee. Already unbalanced, Maine went down.

Penny was on him instantly, straddling his waist and stabbing her knife for his neck. Then she yelped in shock, finding herself rolling across the floor again. Maine had turned himself over to throw her off of him. Both Freelancers were fast to get back on their feet, the white one struggling a little with one of his knees immobilized. Penny allowed herself a smile. Now her small size could be turned to the advantage with her speed and agility. He wouldn't be able to keep up with her anymore.

Maine let out a low growl, leg dragging as he circled her much more cautiously than before. She darted towards him, their blades clashing together. He tried to lock them hilt to hilt, where he'd be able to use his heavier weight to his advantage, but she was quick to disengage and retreat several feet. For the next couple minutes, the match continued much in that manner. One of them would close the distance, trying to land a hit. Maine would try to keep things close. Penny would back away. Red lines crisscrossed her armor, just as blue was splattered all over Maine. Both of them had lost more joints to the armor lock. Penny's shoulder, thankfully on the same side as the wrist she'd already lost, couldn't move anymore. Meanwhile, Maine's elbow was immobilized in a bent position.

They clashed again. Penny's jab was caught by Maine's immobilized arm as he twisted his torso. She dropped her blade quickly to deflect a strike aimed for her stomach, then kicked at his knee. He growled and jerked back but she followed and kicked again. This time he managed to lurch to the side...right into her knife as she reached it across her body. The mark left by the dye was small, but the force registered on the armor's lockdown system and that was it.

" _Round three over. Point awarded to Pennsylvania. The final score is Pennsylvania, two, Maine, one,"_ F.I.L.S.S. announced.

Penny gratefully flexed her stiff arm as the armor lock was released. Maine picked himself up from off the floor, looming over her as they faced each other. She had no idea what he was thinking behind that helmet. Silence lasted for several seconds before he growled again. "I'll get you next time. Good fight."

She knew that she didn't ever want there to be a next time. But she gave a thumbs up. "I think a certain degree of luck came into play with my win. Without the armor lock, that was your match."

They separated to drop off their knives and clean off their armor. Before she left the training room, Penny glanced again at the large windows that overlooked the area, wishing she could figure out what her audience had thought of that.

* * *

"So what was that thing earlier about?" Alabama handed the cue stick over to Jersey, his big brown eyes focused on Penny the whole time.

The four were winding down in the late evening, dressed now in casual clothing, and gathered together for a game of pool. Or at least, three of them were gathered around the table. Michigan has never much been a fan of the game, so he was in a nearby corner with a pinball machine. Hearing Alabama's question though, the blond looked over his shoulder. "Getting called in by the Director?"

"Yep. That," the other man confirmed, reaching back now that his hands were free to tighten the low ponytail his brown hair was held back in.

"You guys were right. They're considering moving me up with the elites because of my ranking. But the Director is testing me first. Against all the other top ten." Penny leaned against the edge of the pool table. "Made me fight Maine today. Knife match."

"That guy's terrifying! You seriously went toe to toe with him, with only a knife?" Michigan's eyes grew wide. "He's so big!"

"I won. Only because the armor lock let me slowly immobilize him though. And I didn't do it without getting hit myself. I think I'm going to have several bruises in the morning." She took the cue stick from Jersey, studying the balls on the table.

"You _won_? You beat Maine in a knife fight? Holy hell, Penny!"

"Don't sound so surprised, Al. Penny's one of the best around with a knife, aren't you hun?"

The woman in question rubbed the back of her neck, grinning. "Well I try to keep myself humble about it, buuuuuut..."

" 'Buuuuuut' nothing, hun," Jersey shot back, mimicking her drawn out word. "Just admit it. You got natural talent or something. Be proud of that!"

"Well okay. I guess I am one of the best around when it comes to using a knife." She leaned over the table, shoving the cue stick forward and watching the balls roll. Nothing? Nothing. Hadn't hit hard enough. With a sigh, she handed the stick over to Alabama. "Anyway. I'm probably going soon. I'm pretty tired and it's getting late."

"We should all go soon," Alabama agreed.

"You guys can. I have a pinball record to beat," Michigan turned back to the machine.

"No way. If we don't drag you to bed with us, you'll never walk away from that game. In fact, before you can start a new one now..." Penny ignored the blond's whine as she caught the back of his shirt and dragged him over to the pool table. "Oh and...I'm thinking of purposely failing the rest of these tests."

There was silence, all three of her friends turning to stare at her.

"Are you crazy?" Alabama demanded.

"No! It's just that...well, if I get stuck in with the elites, I won't get to work with you guys anymore."

"That's a stupid reason not to go for this." Jersey folded her arms across her chest, dark eyes narrowing. "You've got the chance to move up. Go for it. Just remember what you said earlier. You'll still have free time to spend with us."

"You sure?"

"Uh, yeah." Michigan strutted right up to her and poked her in the chest. "What the hell kind of friends would we be if we let you hold yourself back for our sakes? We'd have to be the worst friends in the history of bad friends! You're gonna go do these tests, and you're gonna give it your all for each and every one!"

Penny batted his hand down and then booped his nose with a smirk, watching him jerk back and cover his nose. "Yeah, yeah. Alright. I'll do my best."

"That should start now." Jersey, wearing what all three knew to be her stubborn expression, started collecting the balls strewn about the table. "You're going to get plenty of sleep so you can be well rested for these tests, hun. So scram."

"I can't leave yet, Jersey. Come on." Penny waited, hands on her hips, until Jersey sighed, rolled her eyes, and abandoned the pool balls to sling her arms around Penny's shoulders. Penny's arms snaked around Jersey's waist, pulling the other woman closer. The two shared a quick kiss before separating. "Now that I've gotten my goodnight kiss, I can leave to grab some sleep."

"Hey, where's _my_ goodnight kiss?" Michigan teased.

"Get a girlfriend for yourself if you want that," Penny tossed over her shoulder as she left the room. It was a short wander through the halls to reach her quarters. As usual, she picked her way around the mess that was her floor, lying to herself once again when she decided she'd clean tomorrow. She threw herself onto her bed, burrowing under her sheets. One hand groped for the worn plushie that she'd been sleeping with since she was a little girl. It was the mascot of some really old tv show and she honestly didn't even know its name but the yellow mouse-thing was cute and held a certain degree of nostalgia for her childhood days, so she kept it around. Even if she thought it was pretty embarrassing to be a grown woman sleeping with a stuffed animal.

That embarrassment didn't bother her tonight though. She just hugged the plushie close as she drifted off. Tomorrow was probably going to be hell and she'd rather stay positive for as long as she could.

* * *

 _Uhhh yeah. That's it. That's... I don't have anything to say for the first chapter ending. Hope y'all managed to get interested in this. Maybe leave a review? Those make up about ninety percent of the author diet. If you're curious, the rest is fifteen percent ideas and ten percent real food._

 _Hey. I said author diet. Not mathematician diet._


	2. Chapter 2

**Rising in Rank**

 **Chapter 2**

 _Look! It's an attempt at a regular upload schedule! Yeah I can't promise this will work but I'm hoping to get chapters out once per week. School is a bitch though, so who knows? If all goes according to schedule, uploads should be Sundays._

* * *

Bright light woke her. Penny groaned, rolling over to squint at her clock, up against the wall. "It's two in the morning, what the fuck?"

"Sorry."

Wait. She didn't know that voice. If someone had come into her room to bother her in the middle of the night, she'd have expected it to be one of her friends. Not a stranger. She sat up quickly, turning to look at the door. Some blond dumbass other than Michigan stood there, a sheepish grin on his face. "What?"

"Hey, I don't like it either. But it's time for another test. You're up against me now, though after what I watched yesterday I kinda wish you weren't."

She mumbled something unintelligible, tired mind trying to make sense of his words. "Test... Oh. At two in the morning? Wait. You? 'M going up the list, and Maine was seven so you're siiiiiix..."

"Washington."

"Uh-huh. I'm tired. I mean, Pennsylvania. I'm Pennysylvania. ...Pennsylvania."

She scowled as she realized he was holding back laughter, taking the hand that he reached out to her. "Wow. You really are tired."

"I'll be Penny. You can call me fine for short by the way." She paused. "Wait don't do that. That was mixed up. I'll be fine. You can call me Penny for short. Because Pennsylvania is long. Don't call me fine. No flirting. I have a girlfriend."

"Sure," he laughed. "You can go ahead and call me Wash." With his help, she managed to drag herself out of bed and stay on her feet, letting go of his hand to stumble towards the door.

"You're nicer than I expected," Penny said as they made their way through the halls towards the locker room. "You top six always seemed kinda distant and scary. And then Maine yesterday barely said anything to me."

"Yeah, well, Maine doesn't really talk much. To anyone. He's a good guy though." One of Wash's shoulders lifted and fell in a small shrug. "None of us are really scary. Carolina can be intense and South can be...trouble, but everyone else is cool."

"Hard to tell. You guys never seem to hang around anyone else. I'll have to take your word for it."

"You'll find out for yourself. You'll make it onto the team, I know."

"I'm trying," was her only reply. She stopped in front of a door, and Wash glanced over his shoulder at her when he realized she wasn't walking with him anymore. "My locker's in this one."

"Oh. I'll see you out there then. I won't take it easy on you."

"I'm gonna get my ass kicked if it's anything other than hand to hand, I'm sure." She entered the room, going right to her locker and stripping out of the clothes she'd fallen asleep in to pull on her armor. She just wanted this over with so she could go back to bed. It was way too early to be up, and she hadn't even had coffee yet.

It took longer than usual to finish changing and to stumble out of the locker room and into the training room. The sight that met her was familiar enough. A table with a gun and ammo laid out, a field of pillars rising out of the floor... "Shit. The paint guns?" she mumbled, pulling her helmet down over her head as she made for the table nearest her. She couldn't see the other end of the field with the pillars in the way, but she was pretty sure it was safe for her to assume Wash was over there. Wondering idly about her audience this time — who would be up at this ungodly hour? — she looked up at the windows. Too far to make out anything other than humanoid blobs of color, but it didn't look like anyone was in armor, except one. Purple. A headcount would prove full attendance from the top six though. Minus Wash. And presumably plus Maine?

" _Agent Pennsylvania, are you ready?"_

 _"_ Huh? Oh. Oh, yeah. Sure F.I.L.S.S.," Penny muttered, glancing down at the paint gun in her hands. She'd habitually gone through the motions to prepare it for use while her tired mind had been wandering. Or at least, she hoped that was what had happened. It was too late now. The table sank beneath the floor.

" _There will only be one round. Beginning in five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin."_

Penny slipped in among the pillars. They all seemed more clustered than usual. There were more of them too. Made it basically impossible to see much of what was around her. She decided one spot was as good as any other to wait and settled down where she was, placing her back up against a pillar and constantly scanning around herself.

It was eerily silent other than her own breathing and her pounding heartbeat for several long seconds. Then there was a flash of movement in her peripheral and she ducked. Paint splattered against the pillar beside her, instantly hardening. Penny swung her gun in the direction it had come from, frowning. If not for the paint, she'd have guessed she was still alone. There was nothing to see. And with how close together these things were clustered, she was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to notice Wash finding new cover. Her back went against a pillar again, then she slid around to another side of it.

Her gaze lifted back to the viewing windows. Maybe she could catch a glimpse of Wash reflected in the window. The reflections of the training floor were pretty faint but the human eye was naturally drawn to movement, even if it would be difficult to see. And there was indeed movement, but not the kind she was looking for. The purple armored figure had just paced along the window, finding a new view of the training room probably. Eyes narrowing, she tried to block out the people behind the windows and focus on the reflections. There! A flash of movement! Behind and on her left. No, right. This was a reflection.

Penny spun out to the side, finger tightening around the trigger as soon as she spotted her opponent. Then she groaned. She knew as soon as she released that she'd rushed the shot. The paint splattered against a pillar right next to the purple-armored figure.

"Bitch!"

Hold up. That wasn't Wash. Unless he'd undergone a gender change in the past five minutes. "Bullshit! What the hell?" Penny darted behind another pillar as her opponent opened fire. She backed away, using pillars as cover until she was certain her opponent wasn't able to see her anymore. That was South Dakota, wasn't it? Even without interacting with the top six, mostly everyone could recognize them by armor. She should have realized something was up when she saw the single purple figure watching through the window. People said the twins always came in a pair. It hadn't even registered that the reflection she'd watched had been a purple one.

But wait. Why was North in armor? None of the others were wearing–

Paint encasing the hand that held her gun interrupted her thought. She cursed as it hardened, dodging around a pillar to avoid another shot. How had South found her so quickly? She'd been certain all the pillars had hidden her from view and she gone in a randomly chosen direction. Must have been a lucky guess. Penny repeated her prior escape, moving around pillars until South's line of sight was blocked and then changing direction to circle around. Her gaze went back to the windows, searching for reflections. Was South doing the same? Was that how she'd– hold on. North had moved again. Penny's eyes narrowed. She jumped to the left, avoiding another paint shot from South who had, again, found her remarkably quickly.

Putting a theory to the test, she ran, weaving around pillars until her sight of North in the window was blocked. A few seconds later, she saw him moving into view. She pulled off her helmet and held her breath, listening. Sure enough, footsteps could barely be heard, fast approaching her. "Son of a bitch," she huffed, jamming her helmet back down over her head and stepping out from behind the pillar.

...wrong side.

She stepped around to the other side, her already paint-coated hand held up like a shield. South fired and another mass of paint hardened around her hand. Penny rushed forward then, catching another shot on her hand. She dropped in front of South, slamming her trapped hand against the floor hard enough to shatter the outer layer and crack the second one. A quick twist of her hips and she swept South's legs out from beneath her. As the other woman went down, Penny swung her painted hand and knocked South's gun out of her grip. Her free hand moved fast, fingers hooking under the helmet and pulling it off. She knelt on South's back, pinning her down. Tucking her opponent's helmet under her arm, she pulled off her own and then held South's up near her face. "Fuck. You. You were watching from up there and telling her where I was, weren't you?"

"Hey, no need for that aggression. Wyoming, time check." There was a pause, then a sigh crackled over the radio in the helmet. "Well. Good job, Pennsylvania, but now I owe York ten bucks. Might want to watch out."

"Huh?" A blast of paint splattered across her chest and hardened. Her eyes widened as she realized she'd screwed up. The gun she'd knocked away from South hadn't ended up as out of reach as Penny had thought. Two more shots followed, and Penny fell back off of South, her torso a ball of hardened paint.

" _Match_ _over_ ," F.I.L.S.S. announced. " _Agent_ _South_ _Dakota_ _wins_."

"Give that back." South snatched her helmet from Penny's grip, scowling and walking away as the pillars sank into the floor.

Penny groaned, rolling over and smashing her painted hand against the ground a couple more times to break off the two layers of hardened paint still stuck to it. The stuff all over her chest, she'd have to go clean by hand. Great.

* * *

"You look dead on your feet, hun," Jersey scolded as Penny sat down for breakfast. "Did you stay up late?"

"No. I went to sleep as soon as I got back to my room." Penny drained about half her mug of coffee in one gulp. "Then I got dragged out of bed at two in the goddamn morning for another test."

"What was it this time?" Jersey laid a hand on her shoulder and Penny leaned up against her with a yawn.

"Hide and seek paintball against the Dakotas. She was on the floor while he watched from the viewing area and ratted me out to her every time I managed to lose her." She stabbed her fork rather violently into a sausage on her plate. "I lost. I screwed it up at the last second. I had South pinned and I got distracted. I should have shot her right away and ended it there but I didn't."

"Don't be so hard on yourself about it. We both know you don't function well without sleep." Jersey grabbed Penny's now empty coffee mug, kissed her cheek, then got up. "I'll get you more coffee, hun."

"Thanks." She shoveled a last bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth, chewing through them furiously then laying her fork down.

"Morning Penny!" Michigan plopped himself down across from her.

"Have a little pancakes with your syrup," Alabama commented dryly, glancing at Michigan's plate as he sat down as well. He was tossing an apple from hand to hand, pausing every now and then to take a bite from it.

"Hey," she greeted halfheartedly.

"Something wrong?"

Jersey chose that moment to return, setting Penny's mug down in front of her. Penny guzzled it down as Jersey answered Michigan's question. "They got her up at two am for another fucking test. I don't know why they thought it was okay. She couldn't have gotten more than four hours of sleep."

"Two and a half," Penny muttered, setting down her once again empty mug. "I didn't get to go back to bed afterwards. It took forever to clean that stupid paint off my breastplate."

Jersey scowled. "Those motherfuckers–"

"Hey Jersey?" Michigan interrupted.

"Whatever it is, it can wait. I can't believe this. You still have to do a full day today, don't you, hun?" When Penny nodded, mumbling out a "As far as I know", Jersey's scowl deepened. "That's so unhealthy. What makes those bastards think–"

"Jerseeeeey."

"It can wait, Michigan."

"Yeah, I don't mind waiting. Oh, and, by the way, we didn't really want to be up so early either. That was all the Director."

"Holy hell." Jersey flinched in surprise, looking over her shoulder.

Penny just tilted her head back, practically bending over backward. "Mmmmh..." she mumbled thoughtfully. "Washington."

"I tried to warn you he was listening in," Michigan huffed. "Alabama, why didn't you back me up?"

"I thought her reaction would be funny. I don't get to see Jersey being startled that often."

"You're an asshole, Al."

"No, Jersey, I'm an opportunist."

"Guys don't start right now! I wanna look cool in front of one of the top six," Michigan whined.

Gazes turned back to Wash, who just tilted his head then turned to Penny. "Uh, I just came to let you know that you'll have another test this afternoon. Fifteen hundred. It should be against me for real this time. You're allowed to take off until then."

"Great. I get two colossal fails in one day."

"Did the earlier one not go well?" Alabama asked.

"I lost because I'm an idiot and I got distracted," Penny snarled.

"Because you were tired because it was two in the morning," Jersey cut in. "You'll do better this afternoon."

Penny grumbled something under her breath then glanced at Wash, who'd begun to meander away. "Hey. Before you leave."

"Huh?"

"Did you know this morning when you said I'd be against you that I wasn't really?"

"No. I wasn't told about the change until I made it to the locker room."

"Why'd it happen?"

"Uhhh I think the Director said something about evaluating you in a situation with bad intel and at a disadvantage." Penny grunted and bent over her empty coffee mug. "Y'know. I think we were all pretty impressed right up until the end. Bet you'll still get marks for what you did even if you lost."

There was silence until he walked away. Then Michigan leaned across the table, slapping a hand down on top of it. "Penny! You're cool now. You heard him. You impressed them! Oh my god, that's gotta be exciting."

"Hey, Michigan. That makes us cool by association," Alabama pointed out.

Michigan's eyes went wide and he gasped. "We... We're cool too? Holy shit. I've always wanted to be considered cool by the popular people."

"You're a dork. But a cute kid." Alabama chuckled, ruffling Michigan's hair as he stood up. "Well, I'll see you guys later. I've got some things to take care of."

"I'm gonna go too! I think I'll have a surprise for you later, Penny, but I want to make sure it's okay for me to do it first. I need to check for permission." Michigan swept up his plate and ran off.

Jersey wrapped an arm around Penny's shoulders. "Done eating?"

"Want more coffee."

"No way. You're going back to bed so you can sleep until your next test. You need to take care of yourself, hun."

"No, I need to pump myself full of caffeine and then go train so I don't fuck the next test up."

Jersey held her chin in her hand, elbow propped against the table. "You really don't take well to loss. Cool it, Diana."

Penny went silent. Jersey didn't toss around real names lightly. She took in her girlfriend's stubborn expression, along with the much more subtle lines of worry that creased her face. "Yeah. Alright. I'll go sleep for a bit."

"A while."

"A bit." Penny stood. "I'm still making room for a little practice. Target practice at the very least. I didn't land one single hit earlier. You're not changing my mind about that."

"Win some, lose some," Jersey sighed. "But you have to promise you'll get at least four hours of sleep."

"I will. I'm deadass tired." Penny laid a hand against Jersey's shoulder, then walked away.

* * *

 _I know if somebody ever woke me up at 2 am, I'd bite their head off. And yes, Penny is a coffee addict. Her mind works like mine when tired, by the way. Crazier ideas become normal to assume (like seeing North wearing around and walking around and immediately assuming he was playing eyes in the sky for South – even if that was true) while the obvious things (purple armor does not equal Wash, she didn't hit the gun far enough away from South, etc) become difficult to figure out._

 _Also I adore Michigan._


End file.
